Archive for October, 2009

Happy birthday Charlie Brown. “Downtown” Charlie played 3 seasons for the Redskins from 1982-84. His best season came in the 83’ campaign when he made the Pro Bowl after catching 78 balls for 1,225 yards and 8TD’s. Charlie also made the Pro Bowl in his rookie season of 82’. Charlie was traded to the Falcons before the 85’ season for R.C. Thielemann. Charlie retired after 3 seasons in Atlanta and most recently was a High School football coach in Savannah, GA. Happy 51st Mr. Brown.

Happy birthday Jamie Asher. Jamie played 4 seasons for the Redskins from 95-98. He appeared in 48 games during that time. Jamie’s best season came in 96’ when he caught 42 balls for 481 yards and 4TD’s. In retirement Jamie became a finance advisor for Northwest Mutual. Happy 37th Mr. Asher.

Happy birthday Phil Chenier. Phil played 9 seasons for the Bullets from 1971-80. Phil averaged over 17 points per game during that time and made 3 All Star teams. Phil won a NBA title with the Bullets in 1979. In retirement, Phil has been calling Bullets/Wizards games since 1987. Happy 59th Mr. Chenier.

Happy birthday John Lucas. John was an All-American at the University of Maryland and played 2 seasons with the Bullets in 81-82. In addition to being a great basketball player, John was a World Team tennis player. John battled addiction problems during his career and now counsels athletes battling the same demons. John is also an assistant coach for the Clippers. Happy 56th Mr. Lucas.

Happy birthday Luis Matos. Luis played 7 season for the Orioles from 2000-06’. He hit .256 during that time and stole 72 bases. His best season came in 2003 when he hit .303-13-45 and added 15 stolen bases. In recent years Luis has bounced around the minors and the Mexican League. Happy 31st Mr. Matos.

Jim Palmer turned 64 on Oct. 15. Jim won 193 games and had 179 complete games during a 10 year period from 1969-78. 179 complete games in ten years! Are you kidding me? For his career Jim won 268 games and had a career ERA of 2.86 during his 23 season career with the O’s…and he worked the jockey shorts too!

Ken Dixon turned 49 on Oct 17. Ken pitched in 105 games for the Orioles over the 3 seasons from 1984-87, winning 26 games with 6 saves.

Alan Mills turned 43 on Oct 18. Alan pitched 9 seasons for the Orioles from 1992-01. Alan pitched in 346 games for the O’s…good for 9th all-time. Alan also instructed Fatpickle on pitching techniques back in 1988…true story.

Arthur Rhodes turned 40 on Oct 24. Arthur played parts of 9 seasons with the Orioles from 1991-1999. He was a 2nd round draft pick who won 43 games and saved 9 during his time in Baltimore.

Dave Johnson turned 50 on Oct. 24. Dave was part of the O’s 89’ “why not” team. He won 21 games over 3 seasons and works in TV doing O’s games.

Jason Johnson turned 36 on Oct 27. Jason played 5 seasons for the Orioles from 1999-2003. He won 34 and lost 53 games during his tenure. Ouch! Oh yeah, he was the #1 starter for most of that time. Ouch!

Bob Melvin turned 48 on Oct 28. Before becoming a MLB manager, Bob was a part time catcher for the O’s for 3 seasons. He hit .244 with 7HR’s and 92RBI’s during those years.

Jason Johnson turned 36 on Oct 27. Jason played 5 seasons for the Orioles from 1999-2003. He won 34 and lost 53 games during his tenure. Ouch! Oh yeah, he was the #1 starter for most of that time. Ouch!

Manute Bol turned 47 on Oct. 16. Manute played 5 seasons with the Bullets and led the league with 5 blocks per game during the 1985-86 season. Manute was tall.

John “Hot Plate” Williams turned 43 on Oct 26. John played 5 seasons for the Bullets from 86-91 and played very well…before the buffet took a hold of him.

Marcus Washington turned 32 on Oct 17. Marcus played 5 seasons with the Redskins and totaled 380 tackles and 19.5 sacks during his tenure. Marcus is also rumored to be Cletus…the Fox Sports NFL dancing robot.

Reggie Branch turned 47 on Oct 22. Reggie played 5 seasons for the Redskins as a special teams standout.

Rod Gardner turned 32 on Oct 26. Rod played all 64 games during his 4 year career in Washington. He caught 227 balls and had 23TD’s.

Keith Griffin turned 48 on Oct 26. Keith was a 10th round draft pick who lasted 5 seasons in Washington from 1984-88. He was a special teams standout and 3rd down back.

Antonio Pierce turned 31 on Oct 26. Antonio played 4 seasons in DC before signing with the Giants. I now despise him.

Gilbert’s back and so am I! Gilbert returned after several operations and a couple lost seasons…I’m returning after a long weekend in VA and several cases of beer.

The Wizards beat the Mavericks in Dallas last night in impressive fashion to start the 2009-10 season. Gilbert looked like his old self, driving thru the lane and drawing contact. Pulling up for open jumpers…and a super fast first step that got him around defenders all night long. All that amounted to 29 points and 9 assists! After several failed comeback attempts over the last 2 years, it appears Arenas is finally healthy. Arenas initially wanted to rehab his knee at his own pace with his own regimen. His personal choice for rehabbing his knee included riding his bike to a football field where he ran 40 yard dashes with a parachute strapped to his bank…weeks after one of his surgeries. Later he would bash the organization for them allowing Gilbert to push himself too fast…I guess they should have hired him a babysitter. But, that appears to be in the past and I’m glad to see my favorite NBA player healthy and back on the court.

And although it’s only the first game and maybe I’m just looking for something to be optimistic about with my Redskins playing so poorly…I think the Wizards can be a top 4 or 5 team in the East. Flip Saunders unveiled his rotation last night and it varied quite a bit from what we have seen in the past. Nick Young got a DNP-Coach’s Decision last night after playing in all 82 games last year and averaging over 22 minutes. Mike James also received a DNP and Javale McGee played less than a minute. Their replacements (Oberto, Miller & Foye) were 12-20 from the floor and 3-6 from 3 point land. Deshawn Stevenson played only 17 minutes (that’s a good thing) specifically in a defensive role…perfect. And if Andray Blanche is anything close to what he was last night (20pts 7rebs) that will be a tremendous boost for the Wizards.

Again, way too early to get overly excited but the Mavericks were 32-9 at home last year…that was an impressive win and performance for Gilbert and the Wizards last night. Let’s hope there’s more to come…

If it’s on the Internet it must be true, right? Sometimes I enjoy searching the Urban Dictionary for fun definitions, a Cincinatti Traffic Jam is still one of my favorites. So I decided to search the UD for the definitions of all 32 NFL head coaches. The results of what I found are below, you have the definitions, along with the proper use of each coaches name in a sentence. Feel free to incorporate the lingo in your day to day vocabulary. I mean, I spend every Sunday trying to not end up Sean Paytoning myself!

Tom Coughlan – a code word for a girl’s period.

My girls been giving me a ration of s*&# all day, she must be on her Tom Couglan.

Andy Reid – Fat, overweight, or obese

Rick’s dropped 30 pounds and he’s still Andy Reid.

Wade Phillips – slang term for marijuana meaning “weed”.

They say 70% of the NBA tests positive for Wade Phillips.

Jim Zorn – A slang term used to discreetly refer to a man’s erection.

I’ve got to sit here at my desk for a minute or two, I had a Jim Zorn pop up on me.